The Internet Is Making Us Boring

On algorithms, imitation and the slow disappearance of original thought

https://www.pexels.com/photo/three-person-sitting-on-chairs-while-crossed-legs-7115/

Social media does everything for you. From choosing your passwords to giving you outfit recommendations, and giving you more unhealthy food recipes which do nothing but make you crave more dopamine.

People don’t think and form their own opinions anymore because the hot new influencer already has, and this is incredibly dangerous for society.

Whenever I’m having a conversation with someone, they always say something which is so obviously another “hear me out” or “unpopular opinion” from the internet, like clones.

Nobody is original anymore. Every single person I see around me has the same type of outfit on because it’s the new trend. In my opinion, the most attractive people are the ones who stand out compared to others; after all, they are the most recognisable.

Politically, when scrolling online, nobody considers the millions of lives being lost globally, but instead only considers the policies they find relevant to themselves. Humans are inherently selfish, but as a little girl, I used to have hope for society because I thought that if we all stood together, we could overcome suffering.

I was wrong because we are a divided society.

The only thing we have to unite us is communication, and even that is blocked by filters and technology, which stop us from saying sensitive words to protect the “shiny, innovative nature of the internet.”

Short-form content shouldn’t be the new normal. Instead, people should start to recognise it for what it is: a drug. People scroll for hours and hours, watching Reels and TikToks in the hope that they get inspired or choose to make a change, even though all it does is stimulate their brains temporarily until they find another opportunity to get their daily fix of unhealthy screen time.

Every time I try to speak to other people in my age range — impressionable young females — there’s always a hint of negativity in every sentence, whether it be “I think I’ve gained weight” or “Does this look bad?” and it does nothing but make me more frustrated because it’s a cycle of passing on standards from social media which do nothing but make everyone’s mental health worse.

Don’t get me started on comment sections. It’s always the same type of comments, as if the people writing them are robots trying to keep the algorithm going. I used to enjoy hearing people talk and trying to understand their thoughts, even if they had different opinions from me, because it was a learning opportunity. But nowadays, it just feels like I’m hearing the same script multiple times, like a broken record.

I think everyone should invest in different hobbies and make friendships with people who are a little different from them so we can expand our conversation topics, especially because hearing the same small talk again and again drives me up a wall.

Whatever this epidemic may lead to, I hope my thought process never gets corrupted by the imaginary problems society has created online.

crafted by yours truly, zara